(L to R: Stephen Malkmus, Chris Funk, Matt Sweeney. Photo by Samuel Gehrke and Chris Shonting.)
(Album artwork by Jan Lankisch)
Stephen Malkmus has announced his new album, Traditional Techniques, out March 6th via Matador, lead single “Xian Man,” and a North American tour. Traditional Techniques, Malkmus’ third solo LP without the Jicks (or Pavement), is new phase folk music for new phase folks, with Malkmus as attuned as ever to the rhythms of the ever-evolving lingual slipstream. It’s packed with handmade arrangements, modern folklore, and 10 songs written and performed in his singular voice. An adventurous new album in an instantly familiar mode, Traditional Techniques creates a serendipitous trilogy with the loose fuzz of the Jicks’ Sparkle Hard (2018) and the solo bedroom experiments of Groove Denied (2019). Taken together, these three very different full-lengths in three years highlight an ever-curious songwriter committed to finding untouched territory.
Traditional Techniques
01 ACC Kirtan
02 Xian Man
03 The Greatest Own in Legal History
04 Cash Up
05 Shadowbanned
06 What Kind Of Person
07 Flowin’ Robes
08 Brainwashed
09 Signal Western
10 Amberjack
Traditional Techniques will be available in a standard CD/black LP format, and as a red vinyl stamp-numbered edition limited to 500 with risographed red, white, and black alternate cover.
Malkmus will embark on a North American tour this spring with an entirely new band (more shows will be announced in the weeks to come). The Traditional Techniques live band is Malkmus (vocals, guitar), Funk (pedal steel, keys), Sweeney (guitar), Brad Truax (bass), and Jake Morris (drums), joined at times by Qais Essar (rabab) and Eric Zang (kaval, udu, daf). A full list of dates can be found below and tickets are on sale Friday, January 24th at 10am local time.
Is that a goddamn bouzouki? you may ask. A pedal steel guitar? What kind of Stephen Malkmus album is this, anyway?
It’s called folk music, and it’s taking the country by storm. Stephen Malkmus is only the latest popular artist to apply this old new approach to their rock and roll sounds.
Take the name Traditional Techniques with as much salt as you’d like or dig the Adorno reference, Malkmus’s third solo LP without the Jicks (or Pavement) is as organic as they come. It’s packed with handmade arrangements, modern folklore, and 10 songs written and performed in Malkmus’s singular voice. An adventurous new album in an instantly familiar mode, Traditional Techniques creates a serendipitous trilogy with the loose fuzz of the Jicks’ Sparkle Hard (Matador, 2018) and the solo bedroom experiments of Groove Denied (Matador, 2019). Taken together, these three very different full-lengths in three years highlight an ever-curious songwriter committed to finding untouched territory. Perhaps some of these “folk” musicians could take a lesson or two.
Created in the spontaneous west coast style adopted so infectiously by young American musicians in this time of global turmoil, Malkmus took on Traditional Techniques as a kind of self-dare. Conceived while recording Sparkle Hard with the Jicks at Portland’s Halfling Studio, Malkmus had observed the variety of acoustic instruments available for use. The idea escalated within a matter of weeks into a full set of songs and shortly thereafter into a realized and fully committed album. When he returned to Halfling, Malkmus drew from a whole new musical palette–including a variety of Afghani instruments–to support an ache both quizzical and contemporary. Stephen Malkmus isn’t one of those “hung up” musicians one reads about so frequently these days, sequestered in a jungle room of the heart. The jukebox in Malkmus’s private grotto remains fully updated. Not only is the artist present, but he’s on Twitter.
Traditional Techniques is new phase folk music for new phase folks, with Malkmus as attuned as ever to the rhythms of the ever-evolving lingual slipstream. Instead of roses, briars, and long black veils, prepare for owns, cracked emojis, and shadowbans. Centered around the songwriter’s 12-string acoustic guitar, and informed by a half-century of folk-rock reference points, Traditional Techniques is the product of Malkmus and Halfling engineer/arranger-in-residence Chris Funk (The Decemberists). Playing guitar is friend-to-all-heads Matt Sweeney (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Chavez, and too many other to count), who’d previously crossed paths with Malkmus on the opposite end of the longhairs’ map of the world, most lately gnarling out together back east in the jam conglomerate Endless Boogie.
But, buyer beware, no matter how these recordings might be tagged by your nearest algorithm, the expansive and thrilling folk-rock sounds of Traditional Techniques aren’t SM Unplugged. One might even question his commitment to acoustic instruments, but we’ll leave that for somebody else’s hot take. All we’re saying is watch your head. Because alongside all that gorgeous folk music (“The Greatest Own in Legal History,” “Cash Up”), there are also occasional bursts of flute-laced swagger (“Shadowbanned”), straight-up commune rock (“Xian Man”), and mind-bending fuzz in places you least expect it (“Brainwashed”).
It’s hard to call Traditional Techniques “long awaited,” because Stephen Malkmus just put out an album last year, but it’s also exactly that. While he may have taken his sweet time in jumping on the folk music boom, surely there are those among us who have fantasized about how lovely it might sound if SM would just get with the times. And it sounds like all that and beyond. Set a day or two aside to transcribe the lyrics like the Dylanlogists of yore (though please keep your garbology to yourself) and vibe on the shape of folk to come with Stephen Malkmus.
This past Friday, Algiers released their already acclaimed third LP There Is No Year. Today the band premieres a stripped down live rendition of “Dispossession,” performed at Conklin Metals in Atlanta GA.
Algiers have embarked on touring in support of There Is No Year, wrapping up an East Coast in-store performance/signing tour at Repo Records in Philadelphia PA tonight and at Rough Trade NYC in Brooklyn NY tomorrow evening. Info for those performances along with extensive European/North American routing is below.
Algiers On Tour
Tuesday, January 21 Repo Records, Philadelphia PA
Wednesday, January 22 Rough Trade NYC, Brooklyn NY
Monday, February 3 The Haunt, Brighton UK
Wednesday, February 5 Village Underground, London UK
Thursday, February 6 YES, Manchester UK
Friday, February 7 Stereo, Glasgow UK
Saturday, February 8 Whelans, Dublin IE
Monday, February 10 Brudenell, Leeds UK
Wednesday, February 12 Botanique Rotonde, Brussels BE
Thursday, February 13 Paradiso Upstairs, Amsterdam NE
Friday, February 14 Club Volta, Cologne DE
Saturday, February 15 Manufaktur, Schorndorf DE
Monday, February 17 Zoom, Frankfurt DE
Tuesday, February 18 Beatpol, Dresden DE
Thursday, February 20 Hybrydy, Warsaw PO
Friday, February 21 Lucerna Music Bar, Prague CZ
Saturday, February 22 Flex, Vienna AU
Monday, February 24 Strom, Munich DE
Wednesday, February 26 Monk, Rome IT
Thursday, February 27 Ohibo, Milan IT
Saturday, February 29 La 3 Razzmatazz, Barcelona ES
Sunday, March 1 Cafe Berlin, Madrid ES
Tuesday, March 3 Rock School Barbey, Bordeaux FR
Wednesday, March 4 Stereolux, Nantes FR
Thursday, March 5 La Maroquinerie, Paris FR
Wednesday, March 11 Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia PA
Thursday, March 12 Black Cat, Washington DC
Friday, March 13 Mothlight, Asheville NC
Saturday, March 14 529, Atlanta GA
Friday, March 20 Club Congress, Tucson AZ
Saturday, March 21 Casbah, San Diego CA
Tuesday, March 24 The Echo, Los Angeles CA
Wednesday, March 25 Slim’s, San Francisco CA
Saturday, March 28 Polaris Hall, Portland OR
Sunday, March 29 The Crocodile, Seattle WA
Wednesday, April 1 Turf Club, St. Paul MN
Thursday, April 2 Cactus Club, Milwaukee WI
Friday, April 3 Empty Bottle, Chicago IL
Saturday, April 4 Rumba Club, Columbus OH
Sunday, April 5 Deluxx Fluxx, Detroit MI
Monday, April 6 The Baby G, Toronto ON
Tuesday, April 7 Bar Le Ritz, Montreal QC
Thursday, April 9 Saint Vitus, Brooklyn NY
Tuesday, April 21 Knust, Hamburg DE
Friday, April 24 Nalen Klubb, Stockholm SE
Saturday, April 25 Mejeriet, Lund SE
Monday, April 27 Lido, Berlin DE
Wednesday, April 29 Morze, St. Petersberg RU
Thursday, April 30 Aglomerat, Moscow RU
Sunday, May 3rd ISC, Bern CH
Monday, May 4th Bogen F, Zurich CH
Algiers’ eagerly anticipated 3rd full-length and an early contender for album-of-2020 status, ‘There Is No Year’ is available today via all streaming platforms along with the surviving LP and compact disc formats. LP version includes the bonus track, “Void” on flexi-disc.
(“There Is No Year”, courtesy Adult Swim, Fish Center Live)
Wednesday, February 5 Village Underground, London UK
Thursday, February 6 YES, Manchester UK
Friday, February 7 Stereo, Glasgow UK
Saturday, February 8 Whelans, Dublin IE
Monday, February 10 Brudenell, Leeds UK
Wednesday, February 12 Botanique Rotonde, Brussels BE
Thursday, February 13 Paradiso Upstairs, Amsterdam NE
Friday, February 14 Club Volta, Cologne DE
Saturday, February 15 Manufaktur, Schorndorf DE
Monday, February 17 Zoom, Frankfurt DE
Tuesday, February 18 Beatpol, Dresden DE
Thursday, February 20 Hybrydy, Warsaw PO
Friday, February 21 Lucerna Music Bar, Prague CZ
Saturday, February 22 Flex, Vienna AU
Monday, February 24 Strom, Munich DE
Wednesday, February 26 Monk, Rome IT
Thursday, February 27 Ohibo, Milan IT
Saturday, February 29 La 3 Razzmatazz, Barcelona ES
Sunday, March 1 Cafe Berlin, Madrid ES
Tuesday, March 3 Rock School Barbey, Bordeaux FR
Wednesday, March 4 Stereolux, Nantes FR
Thursday, March 5 La Maroquinerie, Paris FR
Wednesday, March 11 Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia PA
Thursday, March 12 Black Cat, Washington DC
Friday, March 13 Mothlight, Asheville NC
Saturday, March 14 529, Atlanta GA
Friday, March 20 Club Congress, Tucson AZ
Saturday, March 21 Casbah, San Diego CA
Tuesday, March 24 The Echo, Los Angeles CA
Wednesday, March 25 Slim’s, San Francisco CA
Saturday, March 28 Polaris Hall, Portland OR
Sunday, March 29 The Crocodile, Seattle WA
Wednesday, April 1 Turf Club, St. Paul MN
Thursday, April 2 Cactus Club, Milwaukee WI
Friday, April 3 Empty Bottle, Chicago IL
Saturday, April 4 Rumba Club, Columbus OH
Sunday, April 5 Deluxx Fluxx, Detroit MI
Monday, April 6 The Baby G, Toronto ON
Tuesday, April 7 Bar Le Ritz, Montreal QC
Thursday, April 9 Saint Vitus, Brooklyn NY
Tuesday, April 21 Knust, Hamburg DE
Friday, April 24 Nalen Klubb, Stockholm SE
Saturday, April 25 Mejeriet, Lund SE
Monday, April 27 Lido, Berlin DE
Wednesday, April 29 Morze, St. Petersberg RU
Thursday, April 30 Aglomerat, Moscow RU
Sunday, May 3rd ISC, Bern CH
Monday, May 4th Bogen F, Zurich CH
Following last year’s Hey World!video in which Archy Marshall performed acoustic versions of four new songs, King Krule has announced his third studio album titled Man Alive! will be released on February 21, 2020 via Matador/True Panther. Alongside the announcement King Krule has shared his first ever self-directed music video along with the new track “(Don’t Let The Dragon) Draag On.”
Man Alive! Tracklist
01. Cellular
02. Supermarché
03. Stoned Again
04. Comet Face
05. The Dream
06. Perfecto Miserable
07. Alone, Omen 3
08. Slinky
09. Airport Antenatal Airplane
10. (Don’t Let The Dragon) Draag On
11. Theme For The Cross
12. Underclass
13. Energy Fleets
14. Please Complete Thee
Man Alive! will be available on standard vinyl, CD, and as a North American webstore exclusive on limited white vinyl with a bonus flexi disc featuring the Hey World! version of “Perfecto Miserable,” while supplies last. An exclusive red vinyl edition will be available at independent record stores as well.
Archy Marshall’s longstanding love of cinema seeps out in his first foray into directing, with a video for “(Don’t Let The Dragon) Draag On” that pulls influences from Carl Theodor Dreyer’s classic The Passion Of Joan Of Arc while still creating a typically wry King Krule visual.
King Krule will tour in support of the new album throughout Europe and North America this Spring. Tickets for all dates below are on sale now.
Archy Ivan Marshall has the world at his feet. After two feverishly received albums as King Krule, plus another low-key outing under his own name, this extraordinarily gifted 25-year-old from Peckham in South London adds further depth and substance to his oeuvre with another wondrous long-player called ‘Man Alive!’. It arrives packed full of his trademark sonic ambition and compositional skill, as well as the now-familiar corrosive lyricism and lurid social observation. Marshall has emerged as a pack leader amongst his peers, leading the charge in a fearless blurring of genre divisions, one minute seeming to drag the listener through the trashiest punk experience, the next ushering in a soundworld that’s apparently hi-tech and forward-looking.
Like any great artist on the rise, Archy’s life is moving fast. There’s a lot to catch up on, after 2017’s sprawling masterpiece, ‘The Ooz’, broke through amid Mercury Prize nominations and minds-blown media plaudits. Unlike that record, ‘Man Alive!’ doesn’t aim to present any kind of narrative thread, or Brexit-era state-of-the-nation address, just a collection of snapshots and stories, artfully sequenced into a dazzlingly coherent whole.
This third King Krule album was written as a direct reaction to the non-stop energy of touring ‘The Ooz’, and then partly recorded at Shrunken Heads in Marshall’s native stamping ground of Nunhead, with ‘Ooz’ co-producer Dilip Harris. Increasingly self-sufficient in the studio, he manned most of the instruments himself, except for the saxophone, which was played by his trusty Argentinian amigo, Ignacio Salvadores.
Midway through those sessions, however, Archy found out he was going to become a dad for the first time, and he decided to move up to the North West to be near the mother’s family, ready for the baby’s arrival.
“I should’ve had it all wrapped up before my daughter was born,” says Marshall today with a sheepish grin, during a return visit to his favourite public house in Nunhead, right across the street from Shrunken Heads. Impending parenthood came at a felicitous moment for him, as he was beginning to feel trapped in South London’s suburban lifestyle of all-eclipsing drunkenness and depression, which existing fans will know was a recurring theme in his earlier music.
“It was just the easiness of it,” he reflects today. “There really is nothing else to do here, especially when it turns to winter. Everyone I know has jobs, whereas I’d sit on my arse all day sometimes not doing anything, then I’d go to the pub with them when they finished work. It became a bit habitual. Then, right in the middle of the record, this big change came in my life that I didn’t really comprehend initially. It was like, ‘Oh, I’d better get my shit together!’ To be honest, I was really glad to get away from all that so I could focus on more pressing matters – like keeping a child alive and stuff.”
Tracks on ‘Man Alive!’ like ‘Stoned Again’, ‘Comet Face’ and ‘(Don’t Let The Dragon) Draag On’ soberingly document the final throes of Archy’s dissolute times, but once he had relocated, he cracked on with recording at Eve Studios in Stockport.
So, after his daughter, Marina, arrived on 14 March 2019, Marshall took a few weeks off, then returned to finish off his album. “I was still adding tracks until she was about six months old (i.e mid-September),” he says. Still, the songs are very much a document of pre-fatherhood, and the need for change, rather than the new life that ensued.
The new album’s title, he explains, “is an exclamation, about the times we live in. Like, ‘Fucking hell, man!’” He stole the title from a CD that his uncle gave him back in 2013 with some of his uncle’s own music on it, and originally planned to use it for his last album. “But ‘The Ooz’ really summed up that record,” he reasons, “just this splurge of everything I love – messy and with no direction. I thought, anyway, ‘Nah, I can’t steal it off him’, but now I’m like, ‘Fuck it, I’m gonna use it!’ I haven’t really spoken to him about it actually. I just liked the idea of it as an exclamation. It’s kind of like, ‘Oh shit!’, but I didn’t wanna call it that, I wanted it to be ‘Man Alive!’ – super-Americanized, like a saying from Adam West as Batman.”
This time, however, he says he felt a strong aversion towards politicizing any of his observations, so there’s little explanation, just the relaying of potent images, such as the fancy cars on ‘Stoned Again’ which signify the gentrification – or what he calls the ‘woo-woo’ – of Peckham, or the vile Brexit-era prejudice he overhears on ‘Supermarché.
“More and more,” he explains, “I’ve been put off by the intention of speaking about what’s going on in society as a black-and-white thing, or trying to get to the bottom of why we’re in this position. So the album is mostly made up of snapshots and observations. There are a lot of real-time-and-place moments, songs talking about walking through the park just over there and getting a head injury [don’t ask! – Ed.], then there are other tracks which are just simplicity, looking at one particular situation and reflecting on it as somehow being super-profound.”
Just as the lyrics are diverse in theme and purpose, so is the music: ‘Comet Face’ lopes along with irresistible unease like a wonky New Wave hit, and ‘Stoned Again’ packs all the inspired beatmongery of ’90s hip hop, while much of the record’s sparser second half recalls the lo-fi intimacy of Robert Wyatt’s ’80s solo work, or indeed the recordings of mass-murderer Charles Manson.
“I’ve been listening to a lot of weird stuff, I guess. There was some Argentinian music, some Brazilian Bossa Nova – I love the way they sing, how soft they are. I also listened to the radio, which I never did until recently. I don’t like it but I suppose it might influence me a bit.”
Archy laughs at mention of the word ‘lo-fi’, and gives a characteristically self-effacing insight into his unique methods of production: “Ever since I began, people have said, ‘You’re like a lo-fi artist, you do this bedroom thing,’ when really I was trying to make really hi-fi, top-of-the-range recordings – I just didn’t have the equipment! All the equipment I have could possibly make a hi-fi product, but I suppose what I do is start with something that’s basic, like a demo, then I coat things in effects and run things through amps and back out through tiny speakers. I end up making it sound like it’s coming out of a fucking telephone in the end! One time I remember feeling convinced I was making music like Flying Lotus, this super hi-fi hip-hop production, but actually when I listened back in the morning, it was more like Daniel Johnston, like it was recorded on a Dictaphone, and played on some old broken keyboard.”
But he was determined to fashion a more concise album this time: “There was a lot that didn’t make it onto this record, because it didn’t seem to fit with the shell of it. In the end it’s only 40 minutes, and I was quite happy about that because I didn’t go over the top, like I did with ‘The Ooz’ [running time: 67 minutes]. This one makes more sense if you listen in total, because you start quite fast-paced and aggressive, then it takes more of a back seat for the rest, and gets heart-warming towards the end. Happy endings!”
As the concluding ‘Please Complete Thee’ sails out on upliftingly twangsome slide guitar, you’d be forgiven for imagining that some of the more agonizing preceding numbers have served as a kind of therapy for their creator. “Oh yeah,” he freely admits, “once you’re able to discuss things and talk honestly, there is no better way than just shouting it out at a bunch of people. I was always empowered by lyricism and getting my aggression out in some way, or any kind of emotion. That has always been a process for me. This time I felt like I had gotten out of a dark place, and I was on a high. I appreciated the depression, and the low times I’d been through, but I also liked how I felt better in the here and now. So it was about reaching that new plateau.”
As he prepares for his latest campaign with ‘Man Alive!’, Archy says, “I feel better in life. I don’t drink or smoke when I’m in the North West, so I’m pretty clean. It’s made me kind of bored of what a lot of the album’s talking about! It’s hard to know where it’s going now I’ve done it, and what I’ll do next, because of my new-found role and responsibility in the world. It’ll be good to play live, I’m looking forward to that. The tour is coming up in March, so, yeah, I need to get onto that!” He laughs at his own lack of forward planning, then concludes with hard-won assurance. “I might get a pint in a bit, but I’ll still take it easy.”
Praise for his latest, deftly sculpted King Krule meisterwerk, though, is likely to be a good deal wilder.
It’s been six years since Kurt Vile played a solo show in Europe. That’s soon to change as the Philadelphian songsmith announced this morning a run of 9 dates to take place across May & June of this year.
Tickets go on sale at 10:00 CET on Wednesday, January 15th
Algiers have debuted a new track and video ‘We Can’t Be Found’, taken from the London/NYC quartet’s highly anticipated third album, the Ben Greenberg/Randall Dunn-produced ‘There Is No Year’, out January 17.
The mesmerising visual for the sinuous, dub-inflected song, which builds to a soaring, cascading chorus, propelled by the powerhouse vocals of Franklin James Fisher, was directed by Ian Cone. “I always feel the most successful music videos are the ones that are reflective and convey the mood of the song to the listener over everything else,” says guitarist Lee Tesche. “In this instance, we collaborated with the artist Lloyd Benjamin, trying to frame some of his sculpture work in a more abstracted way, referencing the urban dystopian cityscapes found in the German expressionist films of the 1930s. The result aspires to be somewhere in between the unsettling work of Darius Khondji and the set design of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari or Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.”
Wednesday, February 5 Village Underground, London UK
Thursday, February 6 YES, Manchester UK
Friday, February 7 Stereo, Glasgow UK
Saturday, February 8 Whelans, Dublin IE
Monday, February 10 Brudenell, Leeds UK
Wednesday, February 12 Botanique Rotonde, Brussels BE
Thursday, February 13 Paradiso Upstairs, Amsterdam NE
Friday, February 14 Club Volta, Cologne DE
Saturday, February 15 Manufaktur, Schorndorf DE
Monday, February 17 Zoom, Frankfurt DE
Tuesday, February 18 Beatpol, Dresden DE
Thursday, February 20 Hybrydy, Warsaw PO
Friday, February 21 Lucerna Music Bar, Prague CZ
Saturday, February 22 Flex, Vienna AU
Monday, February 24 Strom, Munich DE
Wednesday, February 26 Monk, Rome IT
Thursday, February 27 Ohibo, Milan IT
Saturday, February 29 La 3 Razzmatazz, Barcelona ES
Sunday, March 1 Cafe Berlin, Madrid ES
Tuesday, March 3 Rock School Barbey, Bordeaux FR
Wednesday, March 4 Stereolux, Nantes FR
Thursday, March 5 La Maroquinerie, Paris FR
Wednesday, March 11 Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia PA
Thursday, March 12 Black Cat, Washington DC
Friday, March 13 Mothlight, Asheville NC
Saturday, March 14 529, Atlanta GA
Friday, March 20 Club Congress, Tucson AZ
Saturday, March 21 Casbah, San Diego CA
Tuesday, March 24 The Echo, Los Angeles CA
Wednesday, March 25 Slim’s, San Francisco CA
Saturday, March 28 Polaris Hall, Portland OR
Sunday, March 29 The Crocodile, Seattle WA
Wednesday, April 1 Turf Club, St. Paul MN
Thursday, April 2 Cactus Club, Milwaukee WI
Friday, April 3 Empty Bottle, Chicago IL
Saturday, April 4 Rumba Club, Columbus OH
Sunday, April 5 Deluxx Fluxx, Detroit MI
Monday, April 6 The Baby G, Toronto ON
Tuesday, April 7 Bar Le Ritz, Montreal QC
Thursday, April 9 Saint Vitus, Brooklyn NY
Tuesday, April 21 Knust, Hamburg DE
Friday, April 24 Nalen Klubb, Stockholm SE
Saturday, April 25 Mejeriet, Lund SE
Monday, April 27 Lido, Berlin DE
Wednesday, April 29 Morze, St. Petersberg RU
Thursday, April 30 Aglomerat, Moscow RU
Sunday, May 3rd ISC, Bern CH
Monday, May 4th Bogen F, Zurich CH
(photo by Scott Newton, courtesy Austin PBS/Austin City Limits)
Tune in tomorrow, Saturday January 4 or set your DVRs for the premiere of Lucy Dacus’s hourlong debut episode of Austin City Limits with Sharon Van Etten at 8 pm CT/9pm ET on PBS. Check local PBS listings for times hereThe episode will be available to stream online beginning Sunday, January 5 @ 10am ET.
(reigning, defending and first-ever BACK-2-BACK Matador person-of-the-year Jered Threatin wants you to know that just by reading the lists below YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. #SMASHTHEILLUSIONATOR)
(Around this time every year, your long-suffering editor attempts to coax a list of favorite recordings, books, television programs, life events, etc. out of the label’s artist roster and our entertainment business cronites. In the past, this exercise has been an exacting process, fraught with nagging, GUILTING and no shortage of reluctant participants, some of whom actually changed labels or places of employment or their identities/physical appearances to avoid the task. Even worse, we sometimes overlook persons currently recording for or working for the record label (either that or they saved their list for one that was published weeks ago).
For some historical perspective, here’s last year’s selections. Questions or comments about our crap taste and/or inexplicable omissions are welcome (but so welcome that we’re inclined to comment to publish or reply). Mike Sniper correctly predicted that the below lists would be broken down thusly, “half will hugely famous commercially viable things that TMZ would report on, the other half off-kilter and ‘weird.’ McDonalds Weird. Like The McRib.” So there you go, that’s 5 or 10 minutes saved! And without further ado, let the coronation of Angel Olson Gesaffelstein commence! – Gerard Cosloy)
Lucy Dacus 2019 releases I listened to most:
Lomelda – M For Empathy
Fontaines DC – Dogrel
Palehound – Black Friday
Julia Jacklin – Crushing
Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow
Jenny Hval – The Practice Of Love
Big Thief – UFOF & Two Hands
Brittany Howard – Jaime
Charly Bliss – Young Enough
Angel Olsen – All Mirrors
Vagabon – s/t
Bill Callahan – Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest
Better Oblivion Community Center – s/t
Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell
The National – I Am Easy To Find
Favorite books of 2019:
Jazz by Toni Morrison
Another Country by James Baldwin
The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (2019)
Motherhood by Sheila Heti
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Abandon Me by Melissa Febos
There There by Tommy Orange
Women Talking by Miriam Toews
Year Of The Monkey by Patti Smith (2019)
Autobiography Of Red by Anne Carson
High School by Tegan & Sara Quin (2019)
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
The Remains Of The Day by Kazou Ishiguro
Steve Gunn Milford Graves & Andrew Cryille Duo, Brooklyn
Rolling Stones, Jacksonville
Robert Scott , solo, Dunedin, NZ
Flatlanders, Marfa TX
Hoffman Estates, Blank Forms Brooklyn
Favorite cities of the year, Tulsa & Tokyo
Tiny Ruins in Castlemaine, AUS
Older song of the year Marilla Vinicuis – Algum Lugar
Natural Information Society & Jim White, Union Pool
Bob Dylan, Beacon Theater
Best day off : Lisbon, Portugal
Sachiko Kanenobu solo at The Chapel, SF
RIP Steve Dalachinksy & John Giorno
Arthur Russell – Iowa Dream
Salum Abdallah & Cuban Marimba Band – Ngoma Tanzania (Domino Sound)
Maxine Funke – Silk
Bill Callahan – Shepard in A Sheepskin Vest
Mayo Thompson doing Corky’s Debt To His Father, Le Poisson Rouge, NYC
Andrew Katz, Car Seat Headrest 1 Trait Danger’s, 1 Trait World Tour (Best album 2019 – album of the decade, really. But 2019 is fine)
Bill Nace, Body/Head France—Troglobatem fest Stuttgart Germany
Toad—Troglobatem fest Stuttgart Germany
Jerome Noetinger—C O O S fest Brighton UK
The Powers—-Vox Populi Philly
David Nance Group w/Tyler Damon—Hopscotch 3 lobed day party NC
Everyone–Strangewaves Fest London Ontario
Queen Latifah watching Lizzo at VMAs (youtube)
Werner Nötzel DJ sets Neue Schachtel Stuttgart Germany
Double Wig–Tarantula Hill Baltimore
The Scientists–JB’s Philly
Bob Nastanovich, Pavement Mdou Moctar, September 23, 2019, Vaudeville Mews, Des Moines: If there was a more enjoyable live music performance in 2019 than this delightful madness, then I’m disappointed to have missed it.
Piranha Rama- You’ve Earned It cassette EP: Excellent rock music from Richmond, Virginia. Generously put in my hand by bass player/vocalist Chrissie Lozano in August. Look for their upcoming 7″ record on my label, Brokers Tip.
Jeffrey Lewis and Los Bolts, April 15, 2019, Vaudeville Mews, Des Moines: A performance with so much charm and graciousness that I nearly forgot to file my taxes. For the sake of transparency, I will gladly publish my unimpressive return upon request.
Red Livy (IRE): A five year old mare that greatly aided my enjoyment of horse racing in 2019.
Crooked Torus- “Gib’s On Fridge” b/w “Mystic Fire”: Two songs by two gents from Des Moines. I’m putting out their 7″ record on Brokers Tip because more than this fair city should dig them
Lee Tesche, Algiers Top 5 staff 2019, in order
1. Rian
2. Alex
3. Gerard
4. Patrick
5. Lombardi
Honorable Mention: Noam
Matthew Tong, Algiers TELLY:
The Crown: Don’t tell my bandmates but now I’m a real Queenhead royalist and I feel bad for young Prince Charles, here’s hoping he ends up with Camilla.
Sunnyside: NBC sitcom about my neighbourhood that got the chop after three episodes, but it sure made for good watching with confused locals in Sanger Hall.
Chernobyl: spoiler alert but Jared Harris bites it yet again.
MOST INGENIOUS USE OF MYLAR HEAT SHEETS:
Lee Tesche, who fashioned a pair of socks out of said temperature regulating item during the 6 hours we spent crossing over the Belarusian border.
MUSEUM:
Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum, Kiev. Hoping the displayed scrap of flag that they planted on top of reactor 4 didn’t make me ill.
BEST HOUSEMATE:
Lee Tesche, April/May
RECORDS:
Alter Ratio – “Marialogia”
Weyes Blood – “Titanic Rising”
Jorge Elbrecht – “Coral Cross 002”
PERFORMANCE:
Wife singing “Bright Eyes” by Art Garfunkel to me dressed as Art Garfunkel in mesh body suit.
BEST DRAG:
Sweaty Eddie as Roy Orbison with extending arms, Bushwig Fest.
FAVOURITE INTERACTION WITH SOMEONE CLEARLY ON COCAINE:
“Don’t you realise THIS IS FATBOY SLIM????” Dance floor of Shep’s, Dalston, New Year’s Day.
Patrick Amory, Matador Records – Mdou Moctar – Ilana (The Creator) – Sahel Sounds LP
– Miaux – Black Space, White Cloud – Ultra Eczema LP
– Pierre Clément mono cartridge and the accompanying lifestyle:
– Boy Harsher – Careful – Nude Club LP
– Lankum – The Livelong Day – Rough Trade LP
– The Velvet Underground – The Complete Matrix Tapes – Universal 8XLP box
– Jenny Hval – The Practice of Love – Sacred Bones LP
– 100 gecs – 1000 gecs – YouTube full album stream
– Tropical Fuck Storm – Braindrops – Joyful Noise LP
– Toscanini – Beethoven Missa Solemnis 1940 – Pristine Classical remastered FLAC LP
– Fontaines D.C. – “Boys In The Better Land” – from Dogrel – Partisan LP
– Amelie Lens – Little Robot – Lenske 12″ EP
– Gong Gong Gong – Phantom Rhythm – Wharf Cat LP
– Angel Bat Dawid – The Oracle – International Anthem LP
– Modern Nature – How To Live – Bella Union LP
– Tyler, The Creator – Igor – A Boy is a Gun/Columbia LP
– Bad Breeding – Exiled – Iron Lung LP
Adam Bohl, Matador Direct White Fence – I Have To Feed Larry’s Hawk (Drag City)
Guided By Voices – Warp and Woof (GBV Inc)
Jamie Branch – Fly or Die II: bird dogs of paradise (International Anthem)
Danny Brown – uknowwhatimsayin¿ (Warp)
Cool Greenhouse – Crap Cardboard Pet (Lumpy)
DaBaby – Dababy (Interscope)
Purple Mountains – Purple Mountains (Drag City)
Freddie Gibb and Madlib – Bandana (Madlib Invazion/ESGN/Keep Cool/RCA Records)
Mdou Moctar – Ilana The Creator (Sahel Sounds)
Ty Segall – First Taste (Drag City)
Emma Buchanan, Matador Records
Low Life – Downer Edn
Boy Harsher – Careful
Sarah Davachi – Pale Bloom
Pharmakon – Devour
Bill Orcutt- Odds Against Tomorrow
Kali Malone – The Sacrificial Code
Weak Signal – LP1
Gong Gong Gong – Phantom Rhythm
Mdou Moctar – Ilana the Creator
Modern Nature – How To Live
Cross Record – Cross Record Tiny Ruins – Olympic Girls Miss Red – The Four Bodies
Bill Callahan – Shepard in a Sheepskin Vest
Aldous Harding – Designer
Angel Bat Dawid – The Oracle
Jenny Hval – The Practice of Love
Carla Dal Forno – Look Up Sharp
Cate Le Bon – Reward
Urochromes – Trope House
Rare DM – Vanta Black
Jessica Pratt – Quiet Signs
Cool Greenhouse – Crap Cardboard Pet
The Gonks – The Gonks
Voivoid @ BK Bazaar
Tyvek @ The Glove
Bardo Pond @ Johnny Brenda’s
Chronophage @ a house
Boy Harsher @ Music Hall
Sarah Davachi @ Sultan Room
Circuit des Yeux @ Basilica
Spellling @ Trans Pecos
Eyehategod @ Kingsland
Nadah El Shazly @ Max Fish
Pylon @ Market Hotel
This Is Not This Heat + O Yama O @ EartH
Pharmakon @ Brooklyn Bazaar
Necrot @ Bk Bazaar
Jerusalem In My Heart @ Issue Project Room
And The Lighthouse, V; and Painkiller
Gerard Cosloy, Matador Records LP’s
75 Dollar Bill – I Was Real (Thin Wrist)
Mope Grooves – Desire (See My Friends)
Uniform – The Long Walk (Sacred Bones)
Joan Shelley – Like The River Loves The Sea (No Quarter)
Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society – Mandatory Reality (Eremite)
Cube – Decoy St (W. 25th)
Olivia Neutron-John – s/t (Sister Polygon) Stefan Christensen – The Upcoming Flame (bruit direct disques)
Possible Humans – Everybody Split (Trouble In Mind)
Bill Orcutt -Odds Against Tomorrow (Palilalia)
Boy Harsher – Careful (Nude Club)
Carla dal Forno – Look Up Sharp (Kallista) Dan Melchior Group – Ruins (Heel Turn) More Klementines -s/t (Twin Lakes/Feeding Tube)
M. Sage – Catch A Blessing (Geographic North)
Modern Nature – How To Live (Bella Union) Shit and Shine – Doing Drugs, Selling Drugs (Riot Season)
Heavy Metal – LP4 (Static Shock / Static Age)
ISS – Alles 3rd Gut (Sorry State)
Weak Signal – LP1 (Mag Mag) Blank Hellscape – s/t
Kali Malone – The Sacrificial Code (iDeal)
Purple Mountains -s/t (Drag City)
Rattle – s/t (Upset The Rhythm)
Trinary System – Lights In The Center Of Your Head (Feeding Head) Itchy Bugger – Double Bugger (Low Company)
Taiwan Housing Project – Sub-Language Trustees (Ever/Never)
Mdou Moctar – Ilana : The Creator (Sahel Sounds)
Gotobeds – Debt Begins At 30 (Sub Pop)
Wet Tuna – Water Weird (Three Lobed)
Terry Allen & The Panhandle Mystery Band – Pedal Steel & Four Corners (Paradise of Bachelors)
Sleaford Mods – Eton Alive (Extreme Eating)
Sarah Mary Chadwick – The Queen Who Stole The Sky (Heavy Machinery)
Robbie Lee & Mary Halvorsen – Seed Triangular (New Amsterdam)
Gong Gong Gong – Phantom Rhythm 幽靈節奏 (幽霊リズム) (Wharf Cat)
abu AMA – Aghori (Seagrave)
Thigh Master – Now For Example (Goner)
7″‘s
Michael Beach – “Curtain Of Night” b/w “Electricity” (Tall Texan)
Mick Trouble – “Glad I’m Not Me” (Emotional Response)
Long Hots – “Nickle & Dime” b/w “Give & Take” (Third Man)
Tyvek – Changing Patterns of Protective Coating EP (Double Tapes) Civic – “Selling Sucking Blackmail Bribes” b/w “Velvet Casino” (Total Punk)
Rob Noyes – “You Are Tired” b/w “Nightmare Study” (Market Square)
ARCHIE-RIVAL :
Peter Laughner – (Smog Veil)
Jim Shepard – Heavy Action (ever/never)
Malaria – Compiled 2.0 (Moabit Musik)
Bill Direen – A Memory Of Others (Sophomore Lounge)
Various – We Were Living In Cincinatti : Punk & Underground Sounds From Ohio’s Queen City 1975-1982) (Hozac)
Gene Clark – No Other box (4AD)
Silkworm – In The West (Comedy Minus One)
The Victims – s/t (In The Red)
live :
Michael Beach and The Artists, Murphy’s, Memphis
Sumac, Barracuda, AustinTropical Fuck Storm, King’s Raleigh NC
John Talley-Jones & Volcano Rabbit, Hotel Vegas, Austin
Fire!, The North Door, Austin
Dame Evelyn Glennie Kuljit Bhamra & Charles Hayward, Cafe Oto, London
David Nance Group, Carousel Lounge, Austin
Natural Information Society, Hideout, Chicago
Sunn, Emo’s, Austin
Idles, Barracuda, Austin
Bill Callahan , Scholz Beer Garten, Austin
King Brothers, Barracuda, Austin
Syfria Trio, Volstead Lounge, Austin
The Chills, Cheer Up Charlies, Austin
Malcolm Donaldson, Matador Records Some Favorite Albums of 2019
Bob Thompson, Triumph of Bacchus, 1964, at The Whitney this year.
Rian Fossett, Matador Records Aldous Harding – Designer
Jenny Hval – The Practice of Love
Big Thief – U.F.O.F.
Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell
Damien Jurado – In the Shape of a Storm
Chris Cohen – s/t
MIKE – Tears of Joy
Rakta – Falha Comum (Iron Lung)
Hiro Kone – A Fossil Begins To Bray (Dais Records) Kaleidoscope – After The Futures (Toxic State Records)
Kali Malone – The Sacrificial Code (iDEAL Recordings)
Teitanblood – The Baneful Choir (Norma Evangelium Diaboli)
Equiknoxx – Eternal Children (Equiknoxx Musiq)
King Blood – Hocus Focus (Petty Bunco)
Nivhek – After Its Own Death (W.25th)
Andy Stott – It Should Be Us (Modern Love)
Carla dal Forno – Look Up Sharp (Kallista Records)
Anadol – Uzun Havalar (Pingipung)
Muslimgauze – Babylon Is Iraq (Staalplaat)
Sarah Davachi – Pale Bloom (W.25th)
Jake Whitener, Matador Records Top 20 Releases of 2019
1. MIKE – Tears of Joy (10k)
2. Cate le Bon- Reward (Mexican Summer)
3. Purple Mountains- Purple Mountains (Domino Records)
4. Sarah Mary Chadwick- The Queen Who Stole the Sky (Sinderlyn)
5. Jenny Hval- The Practice of Love (Sacred Bones)
6. Slauson Malone- A Quiet Farwell, Twenty Sixteen to Twenty Eighteen (Grand Closing)
7. Deafkids- Metaprogramação (Neurot Recordings)
8. The Golden Dregs- Hope is for the Hopeless (Funnel Music LTD)
9. Chris Cohen- Chris Cohen (Captured Tracks)
10. Bad Breeding- Exiled (One Little Indian)
11. Boy Harsher- Careful (Nude Club)
12. Big Thief- Two Hands (4AD)
13. Mope Grooves- Desire (See My Friends Records)
14. Weak Signal- LP1 (Self- Released)
15. Mick Trouble- It’s the Mick Trouble LP (Emotional Response)
16. Billy Woods / Kenny Segal- Hiding Places (Backwoodz Studioz)
17. Angel Bat Dawid- The Oracle (International Anthem)
18. Sequoyah Murray- Before You Begin (Thrill Jockey)
19. Dry Cleaning- Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks (It’s OK)
20. Spelling- Mazy Fly (Sacred Bones)
Emily Zaremba, Matador Records Kelman Duran – 6’s (ft. DJ NA)
Caroline Polachek – Hit Me Where It Hurts
Fontaines D.C. – Big
DJ Seinfeld – Please Slow Down
Angel Olsen – Lark Floating Points – Last Bloom
Holly Herndon – Eternal
Mavi – Eye/I and I/Nation
Lil Uzi Vert – Free Uzi
Big Thief – Not
Show Me The Body – Madonna Rocket
Young Nudy & Pi’erre Bourne – Gas Station
Nivhek – After its own death
Triad God – Bdg
Ecco2k, Bladee & Thaiboy Digital – You Lose
Arthur Russell – I Kissed the Girl From Outer Space
(Sandy) Alex G – Hope
Big Thief – Jenni
Rosalía – A Palé
Slauson Malone – Off Me! And or the Wake, Pt. 1 & 2 (ft. Pink Siifu)
Favorite Icons:
Lil Nas X
Bernie Sanders
Lamar Jackson (Ravens QB)
Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems
Cast of 90 Day Fiance
Inventor of hard seltzer
TikTokers
Perfume Genius & his Twitter
Nick Boyd, Beggars Group Extremely thorough and especially gratuitous full length version of this list is available here
Octo Octa & Eris Drew’s stellar run of mixes, remixes, full lengths, and the launch of their new label T4TLUVNRG especially Octo Octa’s instant classic full length Resonant Body, Eris Drew’s Raving Disco Breaks Vol. 1, and Octo Octa’s ‘I Wanna Tell You A Little Story About House’ Mix.
The fantastic first year of Conducta’s UKG label Kiwi Rekords esp Sammy Virji – Shapes (Oh Will)
Everything the crazy prolific Australian electro producer Jensen Interceptor put out this year
Everything from DJ Swisha’s 2019 output esp. “Moody” and “Losing Ur Mind” off HNR 03
Vancouver house music institution Mood Hut branched out in a beautiful way this year with fantastic release from CZ Wang & Neo Image, Local Artist, Ciao, and People Plus
Criminally underrated UK bass/techno/club label Scuffed Recordings have been frequently and consistently releasing quality music all year s/o Mitch Wade Cole, Croft, Fisky, Nikki Nair, etc.
Another masterful and fruitful year from Unknown To The Unknown who still manage a pace of 2+ releases monthly across five plus imprints.
DJ Lag proving himself to be a world class unique talent in multiple worlds from futuristic club records for Hyperdub to producing for Beyonce/Tierra Whack on the Lion King OST.
The kind folks over at Sweat Equity have had a brilliant 2019 with diverse and exciting releases across the board from Ben Ritz, DJ Delish, Millia Rage, Macy Rodman, The Carry Nation, and Deli Girls.
Everything Rosalía did. We do not deserve Rosalía. “Con Altura” forever.
Theo Parrish – 8am – 2pm set at Nowadays Nonstop on New Years Day
Marc Acardipane – Spinoff Gabber
Octo Octa – Mister Sunday – Nowadays
DJ Lag – Nowadays
Furfriend – Unter Christopher Street
Noncompliant – Nowadays
DJ Sprinkles – Nowadays
DJ Swisha – Half Moon Boiler Room
Steve Burhans, Beggars Group
Most personally fulfilling LP’s released in 2019:
Sunwatchers – Illegal Moves LP (Trouble In Mind) (Also: Winner best album cover of 2019)
Royal Trux – White Stuff LP (Fat Possum)
Wayne Rogers – The Air Below LP (Twisted Village)
Sarah Mary Chadwick – The Queen Who Stole The Sky LP (Heavy Machinery)
Tor Lundvall – A Strangeness In Motion LP (Dais)
75 Dollar Bill – I Was Real 2xLP (Thin Wrist)
Nivhek – After Its Own Death / Walking In A Spiral Towards The House 2xLP (Yellow Electric)
Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society – Mandatory Reality 2xLP (Eremite)
David Behrman – On The Other Ocean LP (Lovely Music)
Michael O’Shea – S.T. LP (Allchival)
Five Live:
Mayo Thompson
Mdou Moctar
King Brothers
California Flashback Festival (all performers)
75 Dollar Bill
Matt Harmon, Beggars Group ALBUMS
Sunwatchers – Illegal Moves (Trouble in Mind)
Joshua Abrams & The Natural Information Society – Mandatory Reality (Eremite)
Headroom – New Heaven EP (Ever/Never Records)
Hand Habits – placeholder (Saddle Creek)
Possible Humans – Everybody Split (Hobbies Galore/Trouble in Mind)
Lee Gamble – In a Paraventral Scale (Hyperdub)
Angel Bat Dawid – The Oracle (International Anthem)
M’dou Moctar – Iiana (The Creator) (Sahel Sounds)
Damon Locks and the Black Monument Ensemble – Where Future Unfolds (International Anthem)
Chris Cohen – s/t (Captured Tracks)
Beak – Life Goes On EP (Temporary Residence)
Fennesz – Agora (Editions Mego)
Kelly Lee Owens – Let it Go Omen single (Smalltown Supersound)
Jenny Hval “The Practice of Love” (Sacred Bones)
Shellac – The End of Radio (Live on BBC/ Touch & G0)
Gavilán Rayna Russom – The Envoy (Ecstatic Recordings)
SONGS
Garcia People “Feel So Great” (Beyond Beyond is Beyond Records)
Purple Mountains “All My Happiness is Gone” (Drag City)
Fontaines DC “Boys in the Better Land” (Partisan)
Boy Harsher “Westerners” (Nude Club)
RE-ISSUES
Marion Brown – Three for Shepp (Superior Viaduct / Impulse!)
Blue “Gene” Tyranny – Out of the Blue (40th Anniversary Remaster)
This Kind of Punishment – In the Same Room (Superior Viaduct)
FAVORITE SHOWS
This is Not This Heat @ LPR 3.18.19
Weyes Blood @ Music Hall of Williamsburg 5.29.2019
Kikagaku Moyo on Elsewhere Rooftop 6.26.19
Natural Information Society w/ Jim White @ Union Pool 10.4.19
Damon Locks and Black Monument Ensemble @ South Shoure Cultural Center, Chicago, IL 11.1.2019
Angel Bat Dawid w/ Junius Paul & Emma-Jean Thackary @ Ryewax, London 11.21.19
BEST ALBUM TITLE
A Loss Permitted to Open Its Eyes for but Three Hours and There Glimpsed, Finally in Focus a Mystery That Begs Earnestly, “Ask Me Nothing” Now, Once More the Problem Is Yours Alone (Keiji Haino + Charles Hayward)
Sonya Kolowrat, Beggars Group best things I went to in 2019 :
Smokey’s round up at Sunny’s in Red Hook
black midi at Zebulon in LA
Thom Yorke at the Greek theater in LA
Genesis P Orridge art opening at Tom’s of Finland in LA Toms of Finland
Hilma af Klint at the Guggenheim
Lankum’s Jan 2019 shows in NY followed by the Sunday Irish seisun at the 11th street bar
Bauhaus reunion shows at The Palladium
Laura Lyons, Beggars Group My 10 favorite albums in no particular order
Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell!
Vampire Weekend – Father of the Bride
Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising
FKA twigs – Magdalene
Solange – When I Get Home
Nilufer Yanya – Mis Universe
Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow
Megan Thee Stallion – Fever
Kelsey Lu – Blood
Toro y Moi – Outer Peace
Top tunes not on the aforementioned albums
Ashley O – On A Roll
Rosalia – Millionaria
KH / Four Tet – Only Human
Caroline Polachek – So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings
Burna Boy – Anybody
Peggy Gou – Starry Night
Solange – Binz
Sneaks – Money Don’t Grow On Trees
Velvet Negroni – Wine Green
Chinatown Slalom – Who wants To Be A Millionaire?
Nadia Tehran – Down
HAIM – Summer Girl
Angel Olsen – New Love Cassette
Baby Keem – Opinions
Crumb – Fall Down
Tyler, The Creator – Gone, Gone / Thank You
Kate Bollinger – Candy
Mega Bog – Diary of a Rose
Abby Rubin, Beggars Group Favorite Records Released in 2019
Kelsey Lu – Blood
Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising
Hand Habits – Place Holder
Charlotte Adigery – Zandoli
Jenny Hval – The Practice of Love
Florist – Emily Alone
Big Thief – UFOF
Arthur Russell – Iowa Dream
Andy Stott – It Should Be Us
Carla del Forno – Look Up Sharp
Angel Bat Dawid – The Oracle
Anadol – Uzun Havalar
Dry Cleaning – Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks
Vanishing Twin – Cryonic Suspension May Save Your Life
Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell!
Angel Olsen – All Mirrors
Aldous Harding – Designer
Equiknoxx – Eternal Children
Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow
Little Simz – GREY Area
Kim Gordon – No Home Record
Purple Mountains – s/t
Ana Roxanne – ~~~
Moodyman – Sinner:KDJ-48
OLD TOWN ROAD
Mort Garson – Plantasia (reissue)
Best Books Read (but maybe not all published) this year
Normal People – Sally Rooney
The Pieces – Melissa Broder
Early Work – Andrew Martin
The Odd Woman and the City – Vivian Gornik
Motherhood – Sheila Heti
Trick Mirror – Jia Tolentino
Black Swans – Eve Babitz
Mars Room – Rachel Kushner
Naomi Scott, Beggars Group
On April 17th 2019 Beyonce graced us with Homecoming: The Live Album and it’s accompanying Netflix film, Homecoming. If you some how missed this earth-shattering event, Homecoming The Live Album is a live album recorded at Beyonce’s historic Coachella headlining performance in 2018, Homecoming is a film of those performances cut with rehearsal footage.
In a move of unspeakable badassary, this was dropped between the two weekends of this year’s Coachella and as a consequence completely eclipsed the event. WHO EVEN HEADLINED COACHELLA THIS YEAR? We have no way of knowing.
On a personal note: I got married on April 19th and my wife and I saved Homecoming to watch in the downtime between our wedding and the evening meal. It was as much part of the festivities as everything else. I’m not saying without Beyonce there would be no wedding, but I’m also not not saying that.
Anyway, in no particular order, here are some highlights:
• Alongside her usual band, Beyonce was backed by full drumline, choir, strings and dancers, all from HBCUs, and it sounded awesome. Less than a month later, Taylor Swift performed with a drumline at the Billboard Music Awards, it was not awesome.
• The same show was performed on consecutive weekends but with different costume colors (yellow weekend one, pink weekend two), there are parts of the Netflix film that cuts from one to the other mid-dance move so it looks like everyone’s clothes change color as they move. I have never recovered from the first time I saw this.
• That bit where Beyonce notices someone miraculously has on the same outfit as her. One of many miracles in Homecoming.
• That bit where Beyonce says “Are you ready Coachella? Let’s go get em” and I want to go get em.
• That bit where Solange comes out basically just to dance and they both fall over some how. They fall over just like the rest of us. Amazing.
• That bit where Jay-Z comes out for a bit so we can all have a bathroom break.
• The fact that I have since re-evaluated several songs I didn’t like very much in light of how good they sound on Homecoming. I can only apologize for my shortsightedness.
It would be remiss of me to not point out that Homecoming won zero Emmys, losing out in the Best Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) category to fucking Carpool Karaoke. I feel I should take this opportunity to once again apologize on behalf of my people for the existence of James Corden. He’s only here because we couldn’t cope with him any more.
Giulia Distaso, Spin Go! Kim Gordon – No Home Record
Lightning Bolt – Sonic Citadel
clipping. – There Existed an Addiction to Blood
Lingua Ignota – Caligula
Pharmakon – Devour
Chelsea Wolfe – Birth Of Violence
Nivhek – After its own death / Walking in a spiral towards the house
DEAFKIDS – Metaprogramação
USA/Mexico – Matamoros
The Dead C – Rare Ravers Uboa – The Origin Of My Depression
Thegn – Loss
Yatta – Wahala
Klein – Lifetime
ISS – Alles 3rd Gut
Rakta – Falha Comum
Taiwan Housing Project – Sub-Language Trustees
Diat – Positive Disintegration
Uranium Club – The Cosmo Cleaners
Billy Woods & Kenny Segal – Hiding Places
Moor Mother – Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes
JPEGMAFIA – All My Heroes Are Cornballs Kinlaw & Franco Franco – Mezzi Umani Mezze Macchine
Harrga – Héroïques Animaux De La Misère
Mai Mai Mai – Nel Sud
Valerie Lynch, Spin Go! Fountains D.C. – Dogrel
Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow
Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell!
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Ghosteen
Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do we Go?
Mavis Staples – We Get By
Bad Breeding – Exiled
Chelsea Wolfe – Birth Of Violence
Tickets for Kurt Vile’s 2020 spring tour with Cate Le Bon go on sale this Friday (December 20) at 10am local time (links below). The shows — featuring the accompaniment of Stella Mozgawa and Stephen Black — are billed as “solo and together” and that seems self-explanatory but perhaps you might inquire with Reddit or the Maytag repair person in your neighborhood if you need to know more.
Kim Gordon has released a video for ‘Earthquake’, taken from her hugely acclaimed debut album NoHome Record. ‘Earthquake’ marks the final installment of Gordon’s collaboration with visual artist Loretta Fahrenholz throughout the album, which has included the video for ‘Sketch Artist’, as well as clips for ‘Hungry Baby’, ‘Murdered Out’, ‘Paprika Pony‘ and ‘Don’t Play It’.
(photo by Scott Newton, courtesy Austin PBS/Austin City Limits)
Lucy Dacus makes her Austin City Limits TV debut on PBS on January 4, 2020 with a Moody Theater concert taped this past July. Viewers can catch the episode (also featuring Sharon Van Etten) airing weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings for times) and full episodes are made available online for a limited time at immediately following the initial broadcast.
After mesmerizing audiences with his recent performances as part of ’The Sun Still Burns Here’, Perfume Genius (Mike Hadreas) is excited to announce North American 2020 tour dates as the direct support for Tame Impala. Tickets go on-sale Friday, December 13 at 10:00 AM local time. American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets for select shows before the general public beginning Wednesday, December 11 at 10:00 AM local time through Thursday, December 12 at 10:00 PM local time. A new Perfume Genius album is due in 2020.
Perfume Genius has spent much of 2019 co-creating and performing in “The Sun Still Burns Here”, a collaboration between Hadreas and Seattle-based choreographer Kate Wallich and her company The YC. The show is an evening-length dance and music work and was commissioned by Seattle Theatre Group, The Joyce Theater and Mass MoCA. ”The Sun Still Burns Here” debuted in Seattle and had multi-night performances at New York City’s Joyce Theater and Minneapolis’The Walker Center. ”The Sun Still Burns Here” heads to Boston for a 2-night run at Boston on January 17 and 18. Perfume Genius released two of the project’s songs earlier this year, the eight-minute trance-like meditation, “Eye In The Wall,” and the show’s climactic “Pop Song.”
Perfume Genius on Tour, New Dates in Bold On Sale This Friday at 10am Local Time
Today, Algiers release “Void”, the second track, from the forthcoming album ‘There Is No Year’ , following Tuesday’s premiere via the Adult Swim Singles Club. The song is also available as a flexi-disc as part of the vinyl edition of ‘There Is No Year’, out January 17
To mark the release of ‘There Is No Year’, Algiers will perform in several U.S. record stores including Atlanta’s Criminal Records, Philadelphia’s Repo and Brooklyn’s Rough Trade in mid January. See below and visit algierstheband.com/instoretour for further details. In February, the band will kick off a European tour, returning stateside in March.
Wednesday, February 5 Village Underground, London UK
Thursday, February 6 YES, Manchester UK
Friday, February 7 Stereo, Glasgow UK
Saturday, February 8 Whelans, Dublin IE
Monday, February 10 Brudenell, Leeds UK
Wednesday, February 12 Botanique Rotonde, Brussels BE
Thursday, February 13 Paradiso Upstairs, Amsterdam NE
Friday, February 14 Club Volta, Cologne DE
Saturday, February 15 Manufaktur, Schorndorf DE
Monday, February 17 Zoom, Frankfurt DE
Tuesday, February 18 Beatpol, Dresden DE
Thursday, February 20 Hybrydy, Warsaw PO
Friday, February 21 Lucerna Music Bar, Prague CZ
Saturday, February 22 Flex, Vienna AU
Monday, February 24 Strom, Munich DE
Wednesday, February 26 Monk, Rome IT
Thursday, February 27 Ohibo, Milan IT
Saturday, February 29 La 3 Razzmatazz, Barcelona ES
Sunday, March 1 Cafe Berlin, Madrid ES
Tuesday, March 3 Rock School Barbey, Bordeaux FR
Wednesday, March 4 Stereolux, Nantes FR
Thursday, March 5 La Maroquinerie, Paris FR
Wednesday, March 11 Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia PA
Thursday, March 12 Black Cat, Washington DC
Friday, March 13 Mothlight, Asheville NC
Saturday, March 14 529, Atlanta GA
Friday, March 20 Club Congress, Tucson AZ
Saturday, March 21 Casbah, San Diego CA
Tuesday, March 24 The Echo, Los Angeles CA
Wednesday, March 25 Slim’s, San Francisco CA
Saturday, March 28 Polaris Hall, Portland OR
Sunday, March 29 The Crocodile, Seattle WA
Wednesday, April 1 Turf Club, St. Paul MN
Thursday, April 2 Cactus Club, Milwaukee WI
Friday, April 3 Empty Bottle, Chicago IL
Saturday, April 4 Rumba Club, Columbus OH
Sunday, April 5 Deluxx Fluxx, Detroit MI
Monday, April 6 The Baby G, Toronto ON
Tuesday, April 7 Bar Le Ritz, Montreal QC
Thursday, April 9 Saint Vitus, Brooklyn NY
Tuesday, April 21 Knust, Hamburg DE
Friday, April 24 Nalen Klubb, Stockholm SE
Saturday, April 25 Mejeriet, Lund SE
Monday, April 27 Lido, Berlin DE
Wednesday, April 29 Morze, St. Petersberg RU
Thursday, April 30 Aglomerat, Moscow RU
Sunday, May 3rd ISC, Bern CH
Monday, May 4th Bogen F, Zurich CH
Adult Swim Singles have just shared a new song by Algiers as the fifth entry in the 2019-2020 program. Shared in advance of their hotly anticipated third album ‘There is No Yea’r (out January 17, “Void” is Algiers at their visceral, powerhouse peak – a three-minute adrenaline-surge of hypnotic and infectious breakneck fury, with Matt Tong’s galloping drums, guitarist Lee Tesche’s sound shards, and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Mahan’s inventive bass work coming together around frontman Franklin James Fisher’s feverish recitation: ‘Got to find a way to get out of it!’ It expands on the doom-laden soul of their foundation, toward a vaster, genre-reformatting sound, one somehow suspended in the amber of “a different era,” as described by Tesche. In conjunction with the new track the band are helming an Instagram Story takeover of the Adult Swim account – check it out at @AdultSwim.
Monday, February 3 The Haunt, Brighton UK
Wednesday, February 5 Village Underground, London UK
Thursday, February 6 YES, Manchester UK
Friday, February 7 Stereo, Glasgow UK
Saturday, February 8 Whelans, Dublin IE
Monday, February 10 Brudenell, Leeds UK
Wednesday, February 12 Botanique Rotonde, Brussels BE
Thursday, February 13 Paradiso Upstairs, Amsterdam NE
Friday, February 14 Club Volta, Cologne DE
Saturday, February 15 Manufaktur, Schorndorf DE
Monday, February 17 Zoom, Frankfurt DE
Tuesday, February 18 Beatpol, Dresden DE
Thursday, February 20 Hybrydy, Warsaw PO
Friday, February 21 Lucerna Music Bar, Prague CZ
Saturday, February 22 Flex, Vienna AU
Monday, February 24 Strom, Munich DE
Wednesday, February 26 Monk, Rome IT
Thursday, February 27 Ohibo, Milan IT
Saturday, February 29 La 3 Razzmatazz, Barcelona ES
Sunday, March 1 Cafe Berlin, Madrid ES
Tuesday, March 3 Rock School Barbey, Bordeaux FR
Wednesday, March 4 Stereolux, Nantes FR
Thursday, March 5 La Maroquinerie, Paris FR
Wednesday, March 11 Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia PA
Thursday, March 12 Black Cat, Washington DC
Friday, March 13 Mothlight, Asheville NC
Saturday, March 14 529, Atlanta GA
Friday, March 20 Club Congress, Tucson AZ
Saturday, March 21 Casbah, San Diego CA
Tuesday, March 24 The Echo, Los Angeles CA
Wednesday, March 25 Slim’s, San Francisco CA
Saturday, March 28 Polaris Hall, Portland OR
Sunday, March 29 The Crocodile, Seattle WA
Wednesday, April 1 Turf Club, St. Paul MN
Thursday, April 2 Cactus Club, Milwaukee WI
Friday, April 3 Empty Bottle, Chicago IL
Saturday, April 4 Rumba Club, Columbus OH
Sunday, April 5 Deluxx Fluxx, Detroit MI
Monday, April 6 The Baby G, Toronto ON
Tuesday, April 7 Bar Le Ritz, Montreal QC
Thursday, April 9 Saint Vitus, Brooklyn NY
Tuesday, April 21 Knust, Hamburg DE
Friday, April 24 Nalen Klubb, Stockholm SE
Saturday, April 25 Mejeriet, Lund SE
Monday, April 27 Lido, Berlin DE
Wednesday, April 29 Morze, St. Petersberg RU
Thursday, April 30 Aglomerat, Moscow RU
Sunday, May 3rd ISC, Bern CH
Monday, May 4th Bogen F, Zurich CH
continuing Spoon’s vault-plundering series of rarity-unleashing, here’s a demo version of 2002’s b-side “Is This The Last Time”, now available for streaming or download.
Submit a playlist of your favorite Matador songs from 2010-2019 for a chance to win a copy of every vinyl album from the next decade: features.matadorrecords.com/decade (Contest is U.S. only). Today is the last day to save 25% on (almost) everything at the Matador Webstore, worldwide. (Illustration by William Stout). #banalitymeetsfinality
Made available from today, exclusively via the good folks over at Norman Records, is a limited to 300 edition of Kim Gordon’s debut solo album ‘No Home Record’.
On ‘No Home Record’, Norman Records wrote, “[No Home Record] is preoccupied with the feelings of transience and displacement – both physical and spiritual – that go hand-in-hand with modern existence, and consists of nine tracks of exploratory alternative rock.”
Spoon continue to plunder their own vault(s) and today unleash the demo version of “The Underdog”, the mega-hit from 2007’s ‘Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga’. Lovers of rock / cinema history might recall the song playing in the closing credits of 2011 Palme d’Or winner “Horrible Bosses” (not, I should stress, a documentary about working at Matador Records).
